Star formation in IC 1848 A

Recent far-infrared photometric and near-infrared spectroscopic observations of IC 1848 A/W5 East are reported. The source appears to be excited by a star of spectral type near B0, which can explain the far-infrared luminosity, 2 micron spectrum, radio continuum, and radio molecular observations. Although this star appears surrounded by a local very compact H II region, the density over a large scale is relatively low. This puts constraints on models for the formation of this star.